On January 1st, 2014, Teddy Bridgewater decided to forego his junior season at Louisville, and declare for the NFL draft. When this story broke, writers from all over the country were writing that Bridgewater is not only the #1 quarterback prospect in the draft, but could very well be the #1 overall pick. It is now May 8th, 2014, and many of those writers now have Bridgewater as the #4 quarterback prospect, and a late first round pick. Some even have him out of the first round.

Bridgewater started to fall after he was on display at the NFL Combine. Bridgewater did not display great size, and his hands were measured to be (9.25 inches), which were the smallest of all the other quarterback prospects. Bridgewater stock started to fall fast after his pro-day. The pro-day for everyone is supposed to be an A performance, but Bridgewater came out of his pro-day with a C. After that day, Bridgewater’s stock plummeted all the way to where it is presently.

Bridgewater has been passed on may mock drafts by quarterback Derek Carr out of Fresno State. Will NFL teams be making a mistake passing on Bridgewater, and taking the likes of Blake Bortles, Johnny Manziel or even Carr? The teams that pass on Bridgewater and take another quarterback will be making a big mistake.

In 2013, Bridgewater and Louisville was matched up against the #4 ranked Florida Gators in the Sugar Bowl. At this time there was a lot of chatter that Florida could very well be the best team in all of college football, with the best defense. Florida played the hardest schedule, and had the most wins against ranked opponents. Louisville came in as a 10 point underdog, and they shocked the world upsetting Florida 33-23. The final score was not indicative of how much the Cardinals dominated the Gators. Bridgewater finished the game going 20-32 for 266 yards and two touchdowns. No quarterback dominated a game like Bridgewater did against that Florida team.

Carr went up against USC in the Vegas Bowl this year. USC was the best defense Carr went up against all year and he had a dud of a game. Carr went 29-54, 216 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and a 95.8 rating, which was the lowest rating he recoded all season by 20 points. Carr had the worst game of his season against his most formidable opponent and Bridgewater had a great performance against the best defense in college football, yet Carr is ahead of him because he is taller and has bigger hands?

The good news is there is a really good chance that the New England Patriots may have a good shot of selecting Bridgewater late in the first round in tonight’s draft. If available, the Patriots should pick Bridgewater to be the successor of Tom Brady. Bridgewater will be Aaron Rodgers 2.0, and the Patriots will make out better than every other NFL team that selects a quarterback in the 2014 draft.

Hello my name is Jerry DiStefano. I have been a sports writer since 2009, and a sports fanatic since I could walk. I now would like to share my knowledge with anyone and everyone interested in Boston sports. Follow me on Twitter at @JerryDiStefano and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/jerry.distefano.73

Discussion

One comment for “Steal of the 2014 NFL Draft: Teddy Bridgewater?”

Did you notice how the patriots had zero problem bypassing Bridgewater for an impact defensive end? The vikings should have let houston screw up taking Bridgewater, so beyond dumb. They panicked yet again, gave away a second round pick they should have used on mettenberger(hands down the best and only franchise qb in this draft), and they also gave up a fifth. Bridgewater is not a franchise qb. He may not lose you a superbowl, but you’re not winning multiples on his arm either. Terrible way for the vikings to end the first round. Prove me wrong teddy, really do want him to. I just don’t think he’s got “IT”.